A letter written by prominent fashion designer Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon, who survived the sinking of the Titanic, will go up for auction today in Boston.
The letter was written to a friend in New York in the months after the ship’s sinking. Judging by its content, Duff-Gordon was unhappy with how things went for her after. She writes, “According to the way we’ve been treated by England on our return we didn’t seem to have done the right thing in being saved at all!!!! Isn’t it disgraceful?”
Duff-Gordon and her husband testified during the British Wreck Commissioner’s inquiry into the Titanic’s sinking. After their testimony, they became popular subjects in tabloids. Duff-Gordon’s husband, Cosmo, allegedly bribed the crew of Lifeboat 1 to row away from the wreck faster, rather than staying to rescue others (this was never corroborated). The boat had capacity for 40 passengers, but only transported 12. It became known as the “Money Boat.”
Also featured in the auction is a teacup from the Titanic, a guitar belonging to Johnny Ramone, a letter written by Grateful Dead front man Jerry Garcia, and a letter written by Malcolm X while he was in prison in 1950.
Courtesy of CNN